BARRING unforeseen circumstances, the Lagos state government has revealed plans to commence the issuance of a new unified drivers' license precisely from June 18.The new National Drivers' License scheme according to Lagos State Commissioner For Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, is a tripartite arrangement between the, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA) and the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO).It would be recalled that FRSC last year announced the temporary suspension of the issuance of driver's license in Lagos State as part of measures to clear the backlog of applications.However, Opeifa while speaking at an event to mark the first year in office in the second term of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, said Lagos State Government has concluded arrangement to kick start the new unified licensing scheme (UDLS) as all logists required for the take-off were in place.The scheme, which would commence in the State in June, according to Opeifa, will give motorists the opportunity of driving with a valid drivers' license.'The driver's license which is printed by the FRSC, will be issued to the applicants by the MVAA at the various designated drivers' license centres in the State. While the Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA) which is the first contact, is in charge of processing the information of the applicants, the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) conducts proficiency tests on the applicants and only those who are cleared and certified fit to drive after the test are referred to the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) for physical photo capture and bio- metrics.''We wish to state that any other process aside from the one highlighted above is not genuine as the direct physical capture of bio- data has made the process and obtaining of driver's license through proxies, becomes a thing of the past. In the last one-year, even though, the physical capture and issuance of drivers' license have been suspended by FRSC, a total number of Forty Five Thousand, Six Hundred and Forty Four (45, 644) applicants have registered with the Ministry for the new drivers' license.He noted that the Ministry in the last 12 months had commenced the process for the documentation of all commercial commuter buses, owners and drivers for the purpose of safety and security while than 500 outlets were created for vehicle license registration and renewal at the branches of banks participating on the AUTOREG scheme.Giving statistics of motorist data in the state, Opeifa said its Mass Transit operator, LAGBUS, since 17th 2007 had moved over 47 million passengers, while it had issued over 1 million vehicle licenses through its AUTOREG scheme in the past one year.He said contrary to insinuations that LASTMA official focus on private vehicle more that commercial, its statistic showed that 56 per cent of the vehicles towed were private while 44 percent were public.He also revealed that the creation of a reliable motor vehicle administration database with integrity for the state, was in response to the confusion and crisis of administration within the motor vehicle administration in the country and for the purpose of ensuring safety.Reeling out the scorecard of the government in the last 12 months, Opeifa explained that the Ministry had installed over 8,000 units of directional informative and warning signs along the major roads in the State out of which a total of 835 were installed in the last 12 months.According to him, management of over 75,000 informal commuter bus schemes still remains challenging with bundle of opportunities however the Park Monitoring Committee of the State through its unscheduled and continuous visit to the parks and garages had ensured that our parks and garages are safe, secure for transportation activities and free of illegal sale and usage of alcoholic drinks and illicit drugs during the year under review.On efforts to improve other forms of transport Opeifa added that the establishment of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) is to further ensure an affordable, high quality network of integrated ferry services with barrier free navigation access for the benefits of all waterways users in such a way that it offers more choices to individuals, communities and business while protecting, maintaining and enhancing the unique conservation status of the aquatic splendour which covers a total length of 180 km waterfront and water area of 777.56sq kilometres.'The focus of the State Government is the construction of the Blue line and Red line Rail projects. While the Blue Line rail project will run from Okokomaiko ' Marina, the Red line will run north from Marina to Agbado. The first phase of the light rail system is the implementation of the Blue Line rail project, which is a 27 kilometer from Okokomaiko to Marina. The area of focus is the National Theater - Mile 2 with the completion of infrastructure works schedule for December, 2012. The western 21 kilometers of the line which will be positioned in the centre of the Lagos 'Badagry Expressway is presently been expanded by the Lagos State Government and the construction work for the section between National Theatre and Mile 2 is in progress,' Opeifa said.
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